Falling and Flying
by JayTheBird
Summary: Tails is broken in more ways than one. But what he doesn't realize is that, sometimes, broken pieces can be replaced. Disclaimer: I only own the plot, characters and places mentioned in the story belong to SEGA.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a new short story I came up with. Mind you, it has angst and suspense and isn't as fluffy and light-hearted as my first fic.**

 **Enjoy!**

A Broken Wing…

It has been a little over a week since the incident. Yet to anyone who knows the normally chipper and enthusiastic fox kid, it seems like it has been months since they have last seen him smile. Not that his friends have seen much of him lately anyway. He hardly opens the door for anyone other than his doctor, who only comes by because Tails refuses to come to the hospital on his own accord to have his bandages changed.

When it is one of his friends knocking on his door, he doesn't respond. Later, when the call him on his cell after their fruitless visits, he claims he had been sleeping at the time. However, dark circles underneath his eyes tell their own story.

This time it is going to be different though. Sonic is certain his best friend will open up the door for him. Because even though the genius fox has been forcing himself into this self-imposed isolation for days now, there is not a chance in the world his little brother will sent him away now. Not with this huge storm coming up and thunder already rumbling from far away over a foaming ocean.

Yet, if Sonic is so sure of himself, then why is he _walking_ over to his best friend's house instead of running, leaving the Sonic Boom in his wake which he is so well-known for? Sonic doesn't even know the answer himself. None of his friends have ever made him this nervous before. And this isn't just any friend of Sonic's, this is his _brother._ He used to bathe the kid when he was a toddler, a simple visit shouldn't feel so uncomfortable.

Soon the inevitable occurs and the Mystic Ruins come into view. When Sonic comes to stand in front of the house, his fur is uncomfortably clammy. Judging from the clouds, the slight drizzle of rain coming from the sky will soon turn into a steady downpour. Sonic really hopes Tails will let him stay the night instead of sending him off to get completely soaked on his way back .

Sonic takes a glance towards the hangar which holds the Tornado and also doubles as a workshop for Tails to tinker. Usually, Sonic would go to the hangar straight away, because that's the place Tails always is when he stops by. But lately no one has even touched the handle of the garage doors.

With a sigh, Sonic knocks on Tails' front door instead. A week ago he would've shout out his arrival, opening the front door himself since Tails would always leave it unlocked when he was home. But a lot of things have changed these past few days and the door being locked practically twenty-four/seven is the least of Sonic's worries at the moment.

After waiting a minute or so, the door still doesn't open. Sonic tries another time but to no avail.

"C'mon buddy, it's me," Sonic speaks up, loud enough for the fox to be able to hear from the other side of the door. Still nothing. Sonic sighs again, this time out of frustration, and starts tapping his foot the way he always does when his patience is wearing thin. Not that he had much to begin with. He is sick of being ignored by his younger brother. He only wants to help.

"Open up the door, _Tails!"_

He realises his mistake the moment the name slips past his lips. Seconds later, the hedgehog hears a key being twisted in a lock. Slowly, the front door opens to reveal a yellow-furred fox.

Sonic thought he had been prepared for this. He isn't. On the plus-side, the fox looks healthy. He is clean and his fur is brushed. There isn't even a single smudge of oil on him. It doesn't look like he has skipped meals either, like he does when he is working on a project non-stop.

But Sonic hardly notices any of this. He is focused too much on the fox's eyes. The usual bright blue orbs are grey and stare right through the hedgehog. The dark bags underneath them can be seen through the thin layer of yellow fur and are a testimony of how little Tails has slept these past few days.

"What is it, Sonic?" The fox asks, his voice cold. He turns his head away from his brother's eyes and Sonic guesses he is probably fed up with being stared at all the time. And even though Sonic is only focussed on his face, not the place everyone else keeps being drawn to lately, the hedgehog can still see how the prying eyes make the fox feel uncomfortable.

"Sorry for saying that, bud," Sonic apologises sincerely. "It slipped. I didn't mean to."

The fox shrugs but the tenseness doesn't leave his body. He scrutinizes Sonic with a watchful eye before turning around and walking back inside. He leaves the door open and Sonic takes the invitation without a moment of hesitation, glad Tails finally lets him in. Maybe the oncoming storm is making the fox feel more vulnerable than Sonic first thought.

When he walks in, he keeps his eyes trained on the back of his friend's head. He won't forgive himself if Tails catches him looking at his mutilated back instead.

"How have you been doing lately?" Tails asks, trying to sound casual as he leads Sonic over to the couch. He disappears into the kitchen for a moment, coming back with two cans of soda. Sonic easily plops down, catching the drink Tails tosses him. All seems familiar enough but both brothers can feel the suspense inside the room. Unresolved problems, repressed for days, rub against each other until the tension is almost tangible.

"Oh, I've been doing just _great_ ," Sonic answers Tails' question sarcastically. "Been hanging around the city a lot. With the weather the way it is, I've been crashing with Cream, Cheese and Vanilla from time to time. Don't know if you noticed, but even Knuckles has come down of his island more and more. You think it's because of this, you know, _weather."_

Tails flinches at the insistent look he gets from his older brother, wincing at the snarky undertone at the end of Sonic's sentence. The fox is smart enough to read in between the spoken lines.

Firstly, Sonic hates to spent too much time in the same place. And when he does stick around, he always spends the night at the Mystic Ruins. Unless they're both invited elsewhere. Second, Knuckles hardly ever comes down from Angel Island, only when it is an emergency. Even when there is a holiday or a birthday party to be celebrated, Knuckles only stops by for a couple of hours. It must have taken a lot for the hot-headed echidna to visit Mystic Ruins not only once, but multiple times this last week, leaving his important duty as a guardian on the back-burn.

 _I didn't even bother to open up the door for him_ , the fox thinks sourly.

"I'm sorry," he mumbles out loud, sinking down into the spot next to Sonic.

His best friend allows a small smile to creep on his face. "Apology accepted," the blue hedgehog replies smoothly.

" If-," Sonic continues without missing a beat. "You tell me the reason for locking me out."

Pale blue eyes freeze the moment the words leave Sonic's mouth. A glare, which might as well be mistaken for a painful grimace, creeps onto Tails' face and for a moment, Sonic feels like he doesn't even _want_ to know what's bothering the fox.

Well, of course he knows the culprit of Tails' pain. It's pretty obvious. But apparently there is more to this than just the physical wounds on Tails' body and since the fox refuses to seek out any help from his friends, Sonic worries this might be way over his head. Tails _always_ talks to him. Ever since the kid told him all about what happened on Cocoa Island when he was just a little fox, there have _never_ been secrets between the two of them. And Sonic isn't going to allow Tails to rip their friendship apart just because the fox thinks his problems are too big for his friends to handle.

But before either of them can say anything else on the matter, a loud clap of thunder rolls through the sky. Sonic softly curses when Tails' ears fall flat against his head, a trembling tail moving around his body like a safety blanket. A lightning storm is the last thing his little brother needs to be dealing with right now.

Leaving everything he wanted to confront the fox with for later, Sonic quickly takes matters into his own hands. A couple of minutes later both brothers are covered by a mountain's worth of blankets, a big bowl of chips wedged between them, and neither really watching the moving playing on TV. Tails is far gone into his own world and Sonic can't help but let his eyes drift back to the unresponsive fox sitting next to him. Tails doesn't even flinch anymore when lightning strikes. He just sits there in a miserable, trembling ball of fluff and blankets.

"You know, Tails, you'll probably feel ten times better if you'd just tell me what's bothering you. I'm here for you, all of our friends are. We just want to help you."

Rain keeps pelting down against the window. Claps of thunder follow the strikes of lightning fast, as if light and sound are competing with one another. It reminds Sonic of when _he_ still thought he could be faster than light.

"You can't," Tails mumbles, finally speaking again, and for a moment the hedgehog wonders if Tails just read his mind. Soon he realizes though, Tails just responded to what he had said earlier.

"Come again?" Sonic tries, unsure of what the fox means.

"I said you can't."

Tails stands up, the blanket falling off of him, giving Sonic a glimpse of the heavy bandaging running along his brother's lower back. The younger doesn't see the grimace on Sonic's face though. Eyes flash around wildly before settling on the hedgehog on the couch again.

"You can't help me with this because I used to help you with it."

Pain shimmers in bright blue eyes. Tails' features are contorted into a painful expression. It's ugly in an awful way. And Sonic can't help but feel slightly responsible for it. Nothing would have happened if he had taken better care of his brother.

For a moment, neither of the brothers dare to say anything. Tails looks like he's on the verge of completely breaking down and Sonic has no idea what to do.

"I just want to fly!"

Flying. A simple feat that used to be as natural to Tails as walking was, even though he is the only fox that is able to do so. It made him so special. It had always made him special, but ever since Tails befriended Sonic, it also made him proud. Ever since, it was Tails and Sonic, Sonic and Tails; the blue hedgehog and the two-tailed vulpine, the fastest thing alive and the flying fox.

Now, they'll never be like that again unless Tails takes one of his beloved bi-planes up in the air.

Lightning strikes, quickly followed by the thunder. The immense scare of the boom, combined with the emotional trauma the fox is dealing with, cause him to collapse on the ground in a sobbing mess. He desperately tries to cover himself with a quivering, fluffy tail but fails miserably. Because… because there is only one.

It was Eggman's doing. One of his new creations got lucky. Sonic doesn't even really understand what happened that day. He just remembers Tails bleeding badly from a gaping wound that looked like it would never close; Knuckles pushing cradling the limp fox into the blue hedgehog's arms, urging Sonic that he's got it covered; running Tails to a hospital and having to wait forever till he could see his buddy after they had taken him away. The last thing he remembers is waiting for his little brother to wake up, wondering how he is supposed to tell his two-tailed best friend that he didn't have two tails anymore.

He kneels next to Tails and again his eyes catch the white bandages wrapped around his younger brother's lower back. The wound had been too severe. The tail that had been attached to the fox's body on the exact spot where the bandages are thickest, had been barely hanging on by the time Sonic got Tails to the hospital. The doctors had eventually amputated it to give the rest of the wound a chance to heal.

"I wanna fly. I wanna fly so badly," the yellow child sobs wetly. Sonic gathers his broken brother into his arms and holds him tight.

Refusing to tell him any more senseless promises of: "it's going to be alright" and "you'll be okay", Sonic doesn't know anything else to say other than:

"I know."

The rest of the night they spent together on the living room floor.

 **Don't worry, there is another chapter coming after this one, and that one will be way less angsty. I hope everyone liked this and if anything is unclear or if you have any tips or compliments, please review!** **-Jay**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry it took me so long to post this chapter. Another one-shot begged to be written first.**

… And a Good Friend

It has been almost a month since Miles Prower has last seen his best friend. Just like before he opened up to Sonic that one faithful night, Miles is at home, not in the mood to get up from the couch. He is pretty sure that this is what a depression looks like.

He goes by his original name again. He doesn't want to be reminded of what he has lost. It's also why he tries is hardest to see as little of his friends as he can without hurting their feelings or alerting them that maybe he isn't as 'fine' as he portrays himself to be. Every time he sees them, every time they call him Tails, he remembers not only the limb he lost, but mostly the freedom he'll never get back again.

Another reason why he won't see his friends, is because when he does, he's unsure on what to do. Everything he used to like doing, is linked with the person he once used to be. Now that he is this empty shell of a child once full of life, he doesn't do anything more but hang around his home, watch some tv and sleep. After all, it wasn't just a tail he lost. He lost his identity.

His entire life has been formed around the existence of his two tails. If it wasn't for them, his parents might have still been there for him. And otherwise, if they truly were unable to take care of him, he would have been living in an orphanage instead of being dumped onto the streets to fend for himself. He had thought he was cursed, doomed to live a life of hunger and pain, bullied by strangers who for some reason thought it was okay to torture a child because of a birth deformity.

And then he was proven wrong when a certain blue hedgehog took it upon himself to teach Miles to love his extra appendage. He offered him a home, a new name and a brand new point of view for him to discover to his heart's content. The flying had enabled him to take on a new role in his life as that of a sidekick and a younger brother of the world's most renowned superhero, Sonic the Hedgehog.

All of the sudden, he had a home, food and warmth and a place where he could _learn_. Finally he was able to saturate his curiosity and quench his thirst for knowledge. He had a goal and a guardian to look up to. He became a real person, or at least had a model of a person he could grow up into. And even though his youth was still far from the picture-perfect childhood Sonic always told him he deserved, he loved life.

But now everything might have been for nothing. Because the person he had envisioned himself to be in the future, the person he had so desperately wanted to become, was a person with two tails. He wants to be Tails. Now he feels like all he has left is his intelligence.

He can't be a sidekick anymore. He can't help his friends in their constant battle to keep the planet safe. He isn't even sure if he can still be Sonic's little brother. He can't fly.

Oh how he misses the flying. Sure, taking one of his planes up for a spin whenever he wants to is more flying than most Mobians can even imagine themselves to be able to do, but to Miles it isn't the same. Propelling yourself through the open air, nothing but you and the wind whistling past your ears, being able to control your flight with the flick of a tail, that's where the magic is found according to Miles. Piloting a huge metal bird through the skies is not the same as _being_ the bird soaring over the clouds.

Another thing he has always loved when flying, is the constant competition with nature. The wind would challenge him sometimes, pushing and pulling from all sides, like it tried to play him. Other times it would be rain, forcing him to use his other senses, anything but sight. He liked how mother nature would always push him to his limits. She could take him down easily, put him in his place like adults have always done for as long as he can remember. But she doesn't. Instead she allows Miles to mess around in her sky, only occasionally keeping him on his toes with a sudden gust of wind or a steady downpour.

The same he would always experience during his races with Sonic. Of course the blue hedgehog could beat him hands-down without even breaking a sweat. But there is no fun in that. Instead, his older brother would push him to the best of his abilities, always daring him to go a little faster than last time. Sometimes he would even let Miles win. Every time would end with the both of them laughing and having fun.

He sighs. That's another thing he won't be able to do anymore. Without his tails propelling him forward, giving him that extra speed, the fastest Miles can manage is a simple sprint. No way spending time with Sonic will ever be as exciting as it used to be.

Basically, he is just another Mobian now. Nothing special. Once, before he met Sonic and his other friends, losing a tail would have been a blessing. Like a dream come true. Now he just wonders why Chaos hates him so much, always finding another way to put him through hell.

Slowly, Miles lowers the rest of his body onto the couch, laying his head on one of the pillows against the armrest and closing his eyes. He needs sleep. Yes, that sounds good; sleep. Maybe when he wakes up, everything will turn out to be a nightmare after all.

* * *

When he wakes a couple of hours later, although to him it feels like mere minutes, he isn't alone in his house anymore. A cobalt blue hedgehog is standing in front of him and even though he used to bathe the fox as a toddler, Miles still feels a little creeped out by the idea of Sonic watching him sleep.

"S-Sonic?" his voice croaks a little and his eyes are still clouded with sleepiness.

"Hey bro, what're you sleeping for in the middle of the day? I thought the catnaps were my thing."

Miles narrows his eyes a little, now that his head has cleared up.

"How did you even-"

"Snatched the back-up keys, man. Seriously, little bro, you had me locked out of, what is legally my house, for an entire week. I just wanted to make sure I could get back in next time."

He glares at his older brother, not because of real anger, but more by design. He understands why Sonic did this. And to be honest, Sonic would never have made any of these kind of drastic decisions if Miles didn't force his hand first. The hedgehog trusts people to make their own choices in their own time. For him to believe that his best chances lie with intruding on someone else's privacy, even though Sonic has every right to it when it comes to Miles, means that the two-tailed fox has really worried his big brother.

But after that stormy night he had shared with Sonic, he realised how much he had worried his friends by totally ignoring them. He promised himself he would never do it again. Ever since, he always opened up the door when they knocked, and wouldn't refuse too many of their invites to come over and do something fun.

"I won't lock you out anymore, Sonic. Promise," Miles tells him honestly.

Sonic smiles at him, a cocky one like he already knew Miles was going to tell him this. He throws the keys back onto the cabinet on the left-side of the door, then comes over to sit next to his brother.

"Yeah, didn't think I would have to use them either. But when I knocked and you didn't open up, you got me worried again. Of course I didn't know that this time you were _really_ sleeping."

The smirk on Sonic's face softens and turns into a gentle, proud smile. It isn't often that Sonic fully voices his pride or brotherly love for the yellow fox, but Miles can always tell by the look on the hedgehog's face. And he can't help but smile too.

"Anyway," Sonic says, moving back up from the couch again and moving towards the front door. "I got you a little get-well-present. And yeah I know it's late," he adds, giving Miles a playful wink while disappearing through the front door. He leaves it open though, and keeps talking.

"It sort of had to be built still. And I can tell you, none of those so-called mechanics out there are as smart or fast as you are. Now I remember why I got myself a techno-know-it-all-bro a couple of years back. Sure, you gotta feed and wash them every once in a while, but they're way more practical."

Miles rolls his eyes good-naturedly. Leave it to Sonic to hide an obvious compliment into another one of his jokes. He's glad his bro is back again. He knows his rather depressed attitude has been the cause of more than a couple of awkward moments between them, especially the night he broke down. Sonic hates tears and he's always very uncomfortable in tense situations. Miles thought it was the reason why he hadn't seen Sonic in quite some time now, but apparently other things had kept the hedgehog away. He wonders what the present might be…

Then, all of the sudden, multiple things happen all at once. First, Miles hears someone shouting. Or more specifically, he hears Sonic yelling something along the lines of: "Watch out!" and "Sorry bird!" Quickly after, the blue hedgehog comes _flying_ into _the house_ , zooms over the couch and grabs the surprised fox still sitting there under both his arms. Luckily, they make it back outside with only two photographs and a small coffee table as casualties.

Only when he is outside, and feels the wind running through his fur and his feet dangling in the air, Miles realises he is flying again. The sun is there, the birds are there, the wind is there. The highest branches of the trees beneath him are tickling his feet. Normally he would be annoyed by that and increase his attitude, since he is awfully ticklish. But not today. Today he just _laughs._

A low chuckle right above him reminds him that this time, he isn't flying alone. Sonic's strong hands keep a firm hold underneath his arms and are the only attachment Miles still has to the real world. Everything around him seems too good to be true.

"Nice to hear you laugh again, Tails," Sonic tells his little brother.

He doesn't correct him. He doesn't want to anymore. For the first time since he lost his tail, Miles feels like Tails once again. And even though he isn't sure how he could even have lost such a big part of his identity that he couldn't even _feel_ like himself anymore, he is more than happy to be Tails once again. Tails is happy, Tails is carefree. Tails is the younger brother of Sonic the Hedgehog. Tails is smart, Tails has friends. He feels like the luckiest person that has ever existed.

Tails can't keep it in any longer. He shouts out his delight for the world to hear: "Whoohoo!"

And that's all the incentive Sonic needs to rev up their speed and fly his younger brother over the beautiful land they call home. They fly over Station Square, a place Tails hasn't been for weeks. They move over the woods they both love so much and even soar across the ocean. Finally, Sonic lands them both at the beach where their first home still stands proudly.

* * *

"How was that, Tails?"

The fox and hedgehog sit side-by-side in front of their old home, Tails tinkering with the jetpack in his lap. He is still astonished with the work the mechanics have done. How his brother was able to find people willing to work on something as complicated as a jetpack, especially since materials and research into the mechanisms probably cost a lot more than Sonic has to spent, is beyond him. And all the time it must have taken… All of that just for him.

"It was the most amazing thing ever, Sonic."

Neither of the Mobians is looking at the other. But both show they are listening by quick ear-twitches the other can see from the corner of their eye. Sonic's gaze is trained on the blue, orange-turning sky in front of them.

"I didn't know flying was so important to you," he mumbles. "I mean, I know you loved it. That you still love it. But I didn't figure not being able to fly would drag you down the way it did."

For the first time in weeks, Tails manages to keep a bright smile etched on his face, even when his best friend sobers a little.

"I know, but I don't think the inability to fly is what hurt me in the end."

Tails glances sideways long enough to catch the look of surprise on Sonic's face. It prompts him to go on.

"I thought I missed the flying, that without it I could never be happy again. That I can't be myself anymore because I can't fly. But after today, I don't think so anymore. I thought flying was the only way I could hang out with you. Sure, we do stuff besides running and stopping Eggman, but our entire friendship is basically build on me being able to keep up with you."

Sonic wants to interrupt, to tell his brother that that's not true. He wants to tell Tails that the fox means so much more to him than just a sidekick. He wants to apologise because he never meant for Tails to feel like that. But before he gets the opportunity, Tails continues.

"I don't know Sonic, I was just scared then. I lost a big part of me. The flying _was_ important to me, my tail was important to me. But you guys are so much more important, Sonic. And I was afraid that I would get kicked off the team if I wasn't a real help anymore."

"But Tails you… I mean, we would never… How could you even _think_ -"

Tails giggles slightly, but Sonic hardly notices as he flounders for the words he can't find. Lucky for him, Tails is just full of them today.

"Safe your breath, big bro," he smiles. "I know you'd never give up on me."

Seeing his brother completely relaxed, his sky blue eyes void of any accusation the hedgehog might have expected after all Tails told him, Sonic allows a small, playful smirk on his face.

"You do now, huh?"

"Yeah. Because you did all this," Tails says, his hands indicating not only the jetpack, but the beach too. And for a moment or two, Sonic wonders if Tails means more than just the present he gave his little brother today. But whatever else Tails might be thankful for, it doesn't matter right now. Sonic knows already anyway.

"You could have left me pouting in my house after the first attempts to get me out. But you didn't. None of you did. And you, Mr. Impatient himself, actually waited on a bunch of slowpoke-mechanics to make me a _jetpack_ , just because I was a little down. That alone makes me feel like the most important person in the world."

"Because you _are_ the most important person in the word. At least in mine," Sonic butts in, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow. "Don't you even dare to think otherwise."

And with that, all else is in the past. The rest of the evening the brothers are engaged in a heated tickle-fight. And even though they both know Sonic let him win, Tails comes out victorious and gets to fly them home.

And if the Mobians of Station Square would look up that night, they would see a blue blur being carried through the sky by a flying fox, like they have seen so many times before. Nothing out of the ordinary.

 **Sorry if there are any mistakes in here, I don't have a beta. Please tell me where they are and I'll fix them. Also, I thought it was really hard to write Tails so down and depressed and all. Especially since I knew what was coming later in the chapter. So if you guys could tell me if you liked that part, or any other part of course, or if you have any tips, tell me! Thank you all for reading, favouriting and all the rest and please don't forget to review! -Jay**


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